Encoding audio information for streaming between a source device and a destination device in an audio system typically involves a trade-off between spatial quality and timbral quality. Spatial quality, which may be based on the number of channels provided by the audio system, may indicate the degree to which the audio system is able to present the 3-dimensional character of sound to listeners. Timbral quality may refer to the quality of a musical note or sound that distinguishes different types of sound production. For example, the timbral quality of an audio system may determine the degree to which a listener is able to distinguish between the same note or sound played on a guitar and played on a piano.
Conventional audio encoders may automatically determine the trade-off between spatial quality and timbral quality when encoding audio for streaming to the destination device. However, a user may have preferences regarding the relative importance of spatial quality and timbral quality of audio signals that differ from the automatic settings of audio encoders. Thus, it would be desirable to allow the user to determine or otherwise select the audio characteristics (e.g., the relative importance of spatial quality and timbral quality) of an audio stream to be encoded.